Circus Acts
by ashspee22798
Summary: X-7 is my subject title, and I am in the line of X's. The X's are a line of mutants from a hidden experiment in the Institute. The DNA is of 2 specimens of animals, mixed into a human. Only certain people know we exist. I wished it'd stay like that. Ig/OC
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

Circus Acts

Chapter 1~Prologue

Here I am, running. Oh, how I hate running. My chest seems like it's going to collapse on itself. I wheeze and cough, but I know that I can't stop. The Erasers are after me.

I don't want to look back, because I know what's there. The Institute, falling behind into the mist of my memories, faded away. I hopped over a stone in the bushes and kept my pace; my feet went in a consistent rhythm of about 3 steps per second. I don't keep track, I just guessed to make myself sound smart. Well, I'm not the sharpest pitchfork in the pile!

I'm am an X. X-7, to be exact. The X's are a line of mutants from a hidden experiment in the Institute. The DNA is of two specimens of animals, 1.5% of the DNA of a specimen at one time, 3% of each specimen ONLY.

The Institute has kept the X's secret from even the School, only certain people know that we exist.

The X's are given gentle treatment until "The Test". The Institute was built over a jail, so instead of little crates, we have full-on jail cells. We can eat in a cafeteria, though it is heavily guarded and there is no way to escape, and we have time after meals to train with our groups.

Back to The Test. The Test is mainly a gladiator battle between the group and hundreds of Erasers to see which one is worthy to live. There are three rounds, sometimes they are all mashed together into one round, sometimes they are spread out. Two rounds are to kill off your teammates, one round is to see if you can live through the attacks of the remaining Erasers. If you die, you obviously lose. If you win, you begin to be treated like a regular mutant freak. You get normal tests for the other mutants, such as metabolic rate, stamina, taking blood and DNA, etc. to see how you survived.

...

For those of you who had no idea what I just said, here's the version for people like me. I got that from some whitecoat's speech. I have improved memory over humans.

I am Subject X-7 of the Institute. The X's are a line of crossover genes mixed into a human. Oh, lucky me, I'm 94% human, 3% avian, 3% feline, and 100% awesome; not to brag, but y'know, totally awesome… if you want to be a mutant freak. Well, some people actually do!

Anyways- Erasers. Mutant weirdos that everybody hates. They're pretty much these wolf things that are kind of human too but they're more like, just, mainly… mutant freaks that want to eat you and puke you up to serve to their kids. Yummy. Just kidding, they are mutant weirdos though. They're more like a hybrid of a dog and a human, but their thoughts are all evil. They always want to kill you, and they always follow the whitecoats without a hitch. Oh, whitecoats are the scientists that made us mutants. I sometimes feel bad for the Erasers, but I also don't. Isn't that funny, though?

Back to running. Oh, crap, scary doggies are after me. And, in case you haven't noticed, I am not afraid of them… at least, that much… OKAY, MAYBE A LOT! I am 3% feline, after all!

I made it to a cliff and looked down, okay… now to jump off this cliff and fly… again. Especially after my wings are pretty much screwed for life. Okay, on the count of three… one… two… one hundred twenty-six… one thousand three hundred thirty-two… three!

I jumped off the cliff and spread my wings, getting a cry of protest from their bleeding forms. They were white with black on the tips, much like my hair, and they were obviously covered in blood. Who'da thunk?

I caught the air beneath my wings and sighed, then shut my mouth in an attempt to keep from crying out in pain. I didn't want to look back, scared that winged Erasers were lurking behind me. I looked down, I was free. I kept flying, blood dripped from my wings and onto the ground, but I didn't care. I was free, goodbye to all my companions back at the Institute, I'm never going back!

…until I crashed into a tree. Crap. Institute, here I come…

I blacked out.

**Okay, short chapter. I know. Well, look on the bright side; the next chapter will be longer!**

**Thanks to all my companions who support my fanfic of Maximum Ride. I only read the 1****st**** book… Heh heh… *hides behind a bomb shelter* please don't hurt me…**


	2. Chapter 2

Circus Acts

Chapter 2

I woke up. I didn't wanna open my eyes because I know what I'd see: Erasers. Hundreds of them would be waiting for me. I'd be back at the Institute, they didn't treat us X's horrible, but they didn't treat us kindly either. The Erasers had a problem with every single one of us, though, no matter what we did.

Anyways, I woke up. I finally managed to crack open my eye a bit, just one, and look around. All I saw were a few trees everywhere, one with a mark of my face in it.

_Oh, so that's where I landed._

I opened the other eye, hoping that no Erasers would pounce on me, and my hopes were answered. I sat up, rubbing my eyes, and took a good look around. I was still alive, that's good, but where was I?

I spread my wings, hoping to be able to get into the air and take a better look at where I was, but my wings were not listening. Great, my wings hate me now. That's another on the list of things that hate me.

List of Things that Hate Me:

1.) Erasers

2.) My wings

I walked around a bit, trying to figure out where I was, but to no avail. All I heard were birds chirping and a bit of running water.

_Wait, heyyo. Water._

I rushed to the source of the water, tripping over a few stray roots on the way. Great, another thing that hates me. Roots.

3.) Tree roots

_Back to the point, running towards the water. Got it._

I stepped around a few rocks, not wanting to spread my wings and go over, and made it to a clearing with a beach. The rocks formed a nice little area around the beach, it was very pretty.

I rushed to the water, jumping in. I didn't care if I had my clothes on, I loved the water. It was just so… calming, relaxing. I felt at ease. I flipped over onto my back and tried to use my wings to push me, but I had forgotten how they hate me.

_Yeah, time for plan B._

I started pushing my arms through the water, stroking backwards. I smiled and closed my eyes, hoping that this day would stay like this forever.

_Hi! _a voice popped up in my head.

I screamed. Yes, I can scream.

_WHO ARE YOU AND HOW ARE YOU IN MY THOUGHTS? _I thought, still screaming.

_I'm Angel! You're in one of the Flock's hiding places so I am thinking to you so the rest of the Flock don't find you and hurt you. Mostly Fang, if anything or anyone tries to hurt Max... _I could almost hear her giggling.

_Excuse my language, but WHAT THE FUCK? _I almost choked on the seawater.

_Oop! You better run! We're almost there! _I stopped hearing her brain interference.

_WAIT! WAIT! WHAT'S GOING ON? _I swam to shore, spreading my wings to prepare for take off. _Oh, yeah. That's right. Broken wings._

_Wait, you have wings, too? I have wings! _I heard her again. Great, my intruder again.

_I am not an intruder! I am Angel, and I am part of the Flock. _She sounded so cute, but so evil in a way. _Then why are you intruding my thoughts? Who is Fang? Who is Max? What is the Flock?_

_You'll meet us in a second! We're here!  
_

_What? What's going o- OW! _I snapped out of my thoughts and woke up to my arms being pinned behind my back, crushing my wings. Shit.

"Ow... ow... ow... OW... OW! OW! OW! OWWWWWWWWWWWW!" I looked back, a boy about my age was pinning my arms back. He had a black outfit on and his wings were outstretched, they were black. He had dark brown hair with a huge chunk of what looked to be bangs covering his face. He looked pretty emo, but hot. He pushed me along in silence to the rest of a group of people. A little six year old ran up to me.

"Hi X-7!" she giggled, clutching a bear in an angel costume, "this is Celeste!" she held the bear up to me.

"Uh, how did you know my name-OW!" I glared at my captor, "STOP DOING THAT!" he was pushing my arms in closer to my wings, I bet he was doing it on purpose.

_Oh, that's Fang. He's really nice once you get to know him._

_Yeah, wonderful person, really. I bet in a minute he'll be baking cookies for us all and saying how much he loves butterflies. _I rolled my eyes.

The rest of the people on the beach were sitting in silence, except for the one with tan skin and brown hair. She talked non-stop. I could see her mouth moving like a motor, I could only catch something about cats and geckos. There was a blonde girl with pink streaks in her hair staring at me, she wouldn't take her eyes off me; even when she shushed Miss Motor Mouth. Triple M then looked at a boy with strawberry blonde hair with black tips. His eyes wouldn't focus on anything, but he was easily cooking a fish on a small fire. He was blind, I noted.

_Oh, and how do you know my name?_

"I just read your thoughts!" Angel giggled at me. I rolled my eyes yet again. I finally noticed a little boy standing behind Angel- I think it was Angel at least- he looked very similar to her, they could be related, but he was older than her and he was obviously a boy. He held her arm tightly.

"Angel, come on, let Fang and Max take care of kitty over here." the boy spoke up. Angel shook her head. Oh, yeah. Did I mention how I have cat ears and a cat tail?

"No, you didn't." Angel spoke up again.

"Why do you keep reading my mi- OW YOU FREAKING LOSER!" I glared at the Fang again.

"Angel, Gazzy, go with Nudge and Iggy." the blonde girl there stood up. Angel walked away, followed by whom I thought was Gazzy.

"Could you loosen your grip? My wings are being cruUUUUUSHED! DEAR GOD SAVE ME!" I almost jumped in the air, he pushed my arms into my wings harder. I whacked him with my tail. He pushed my arms in. I stood still, defeated.

_PLEASE TELL HIM TO STOP DOING THAT! _I mentally plead.

"Fang, she wants me to tell you to stop doing that." Angel called out. I mouthed 'Thank you' before he let go, quickly exchanging for my tail.

"Are you working for the Institute?" the girl asked as soon as we were out of ear's reach, which, for a mutant, was very far.

I paused, what could I say? I was trapped at the Institute, yeah, but I wouldn't wanna unravel all the little details, "no."

"Why are you covered in blood?" the million dollar question. Great.

"Big battle. Why do you care?" I snapped.

Now emo boy spoke up, "Because we saw you crashing into a tree."

My breath got caught in my throat, were they watching me? They better not have been...

"Who are you?" now the girl spoke up. I couldn't tell them, they would get suspicious.

Or would they?


	3. Chapter 3

Circus Acts

Chapter 3

* * *

I wasn't sure now, what I should've said.

_On the one hand, I could tell these weirdos holding me captive who I am,_

_Or_

_I could fly away._

_I choose B._

I stretched out my wings and jumped up into the air, feeling the breeze catch my hair.

Then I plummeted to the ground.

_Great, two more things that hate me._

4.) Gravity

5.) My wings' joints

_Oh, yeah. Being held at tail point._

I snapped out of my thoughts to find a very angry, uh, what's her face…

_Max._ Angel interrupted again.

_Thanks. _I said, unenthusiastically.

_Oh, yeah. Derp. Angry Max glaring at me._

"Name." she was angrier now. _Oooh, scary._

_Wait, I need a name. I am X-7, but that's a stupid name. X, uh, add 7_ _letters, Y, Z, A, B,C,D…_

"Xera." I managed. Emo hottie let go of my tail, I wrapped it around my waist like a belt.

"How did you escape the Institute?" _great, yet another million-dollar question. She could make a game show._

"I flew away." I said, shrugging. _She didn't need any more details, did she?_

_Yes._

"Full story, Xera, or Fang here will launch you at those rocks by your tail." She snarled. Fang walked up next to her, rolling his eyes.

"Oooh, so scawy." I rolled my own eyes.

_Oh, crap. She looked pissed. _"Full story!" she snapped.

_I could tell her the full story and face the consequences, or I could wing it, heh, get it, wing it? Oh, nevermind. _"No…" I whimpered. She's pretty fricken' scary. I couldn't fight, I couldn't fly, and I'm kinda trapped here.

_Just kill me quickly…_

"Fine, whatever. Fang, keep her guarded. Introduce her to the Flock, too. I'm taking a cruise." And with that, Angry Max took off, leaving me with Fang- the emo hottie.

_Wait a second, she didn't have Fang launch me at the rocks by my tail. There is only one logical explanation!_

_She's... sympathetic towards me? Bejeebers. Maybe she isn't so mean as Angry Max.  
_

"Come on." Fang finally spoke, grabbing my arm and leading me back to the camp._  
_

"Uh... so your name's Fang?" _That's one heck of a name._

"Yes." he didn't even so much as look at me.

"...okay." I didn't want to question him any more.

"Hi! I saw you were new and I thought, 'Hey self, this person is new! I should do something for her!' So I gathered up a bunch of sticks and leaves and stuff and made you a nest! I don't like nests, I like beds better, and I didn't do good with this, so I hope it's okay but is it okay? I mean, really, tell me the truth, is it okay, I hope it is because it took me a while to make it-"

"That's Nudge." Fang pointed to her as he cut her off.

"I'm Angel! I think you met me already." the little girl walked up. _Yup, I met you, as you were intruding my thoughts._

"I wasn't intruding! I was conversing with my mind." she crossed her arms and pouted. I chuckled.

"I'm Gazzy, her brother. If you even dare to touch a single hair on her head-" the blind one stuck his hand on top of the speaker's- Gazzy- mouth.

"And that's Iggy." Fang pointed at blindey. He had his wings stretched out, they were black on the top and white on the bottom, like an albatross.

"Hi." Iggy looked in my direction and smiled weakly, then looked back at the fish on the fire.

"Well, I'm Xera." I smiled.

"Oooh! That's a pretty name! It's like, exotic!" Nudge gasped, "are you from a jungle or something? Jungles are awesome! I would love to visit a jungle. We've been a lot of places, like D.C., Disney Land, Colorado, California-"

"And lots more. Okay, Nudge, we get it." Gazzy was sitting next to Iggy, talking to him kindly.

"Uh... so, what am I supposed to do now?" I sat down on the sand, looking at them all.

_Shouldn't have asked that..._

"Ooh! You can do lots of things! I can do your hair, I can clean your wings, you can do my hair, we can go swimming, we can go flying-wait, you can't fly. Uh, we can do lots of things other than that too! We can make up a board game, we can play tic-tac-toe on the sand, we can play pranks, we can play games like tag, hide-and-seek, and we can also-" Nudge channel- off. I started to ignore her after a while as I stared at blindey. Well, for a blind guy, he was _hot._ _Are all the guys hot here?_

_I dunno. I never really thought of that much._ Well, there's Angel again.

_Welcome back, Angle._

_Angel.  
_

_Whatever.  
_

I got up and sat by the water, my feet got soaked. Great. I looked on as the sun began to set behind the sea. I wondered how much it hurts Iggy not to be able to see, if I couldn't see I'd probably go crazy.

I felt bad for Iggy, never being able to tell the difference between day and night, never being able to witness nature, never being able to do a million other things. But most of all,

I felt bad that he cooked better than me.

* * *

**Okay, I made a new community for anyone who wants to make an X OC.**

**.net/community/The_Xs/100392/**

**You don't have to join, but if you do you can put an OC there and you have a chance of me putting it in the story! Oh, and first person who joins then puts an OC is guaranteed a spot, probably X-8 who will be introduced in a later chapter. Good luck to all of you, and may the odds be ever in your favor!  
**


	4. Chapter 4

Circus Acts

Chapter 4

* * *

I could hear the soft patters of snoring behind me, and a set of eyes watching everything I did. Iggy had watch, now. I could hear him and Max switching places. Max came back an hour ago, overly relieved to see everyone still here.

I laid back, looking up at the stars as Iggy joined me. I looked over at him and he smiled. I smiled, too. He reminded me of someone I left behind. Someone I miss.

I didn't realize I was crying until Iggy put his arm around me. I wept bitterly, retelling all of the details in my head. I didn't realize Iggy had his arm around me until he let go, blushing. I couldn't believe how much harder it would be to stay composed out of the Institute than in.

And I couldn't believe that I left them.

All of them.

I wanted to cry, curl up into a ball, and die. There was nothing left for me, now. Only tears and hiding.

When would it end?

I missed X-8 and all of his friendly tactics, he was part of my group. I miss his brotherly ways, how he would comfort me when my heart was breaking.

How he prepared me for everything.

And I missed X-9.

I missed how he would tell me not to be afraid, how he would tell me that I was beautiful, and how he...

He was gone, now.

I would never get him back.

I grabbed Iggy and sobbed into his shoulder. I didn't care if I only met him today, I needed to have something to soak up the tears.

Something to tell me everything was okay.

Someone like Iggy.

He patted my back and held me close. I felt so loved in that moment, more loved than I ever was in my whole life. I wanted to stay like this forever.

But not all good things last.

Fang woke up for his watch, and I didn't want him to se me crying. I walked over to the water, cooling my feet in the cold water. I let my mind drift off, somewhere with peace and tranquility.

I wanted to see X-9 again. I wanted to tell him how stupid he was that last day, how much I cried.

I needed him, my rock, my world.

And he left me. Alone in an arena where my older brother was being slaughtered.

And I escaped.

And I lived.

* * *

X-7, X-8, and X-9 walked to the door leading into the arena. X-9 shot his arm out, stopping them.

"Can I have a word with Sev? Alone, Eighty-o." he carefully flitted over to X-7. She blushed as he put his arm around her defensively. X-8 shrugged and walked away. 9 blushed and let go of her.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" 7 leaned against a wall.

"I wanted to say goodbye. I'm going to die here, you know." he maintained a serious face. He couldn't cry, not now.

_What?_ "What happened to the perky, happy, optimistic Niner that I know?" she put her hand on his shoulder.

"He died inside." he took her hand off his shoulder

"Nine…" her eyes plead.

"Sev. Let me talk. You are the best friend I've ever had," he grabbed her chin and looked her in the eyes, "I'm a fly boy; my skin is fragile, unlike your cat/bird/human skin. You playfully poked me yesterday and I bled half-to-death. I will die here."

"Please, stop…" tears threatened to fall down her cheeks. He leaned in closer to her, their noses touched. He didn't once let his eyes leave hers, or his hand leave her chin.

"I'll miss you," he started to feel the sting of a broken heart, "but while I still can, I'll tell you this. My fly eyes are being dominated by my dog eyes, and my human eyes are at war with those other two for my sight. I'm going blind, now."

"What? Why!" tears streamed now, despite her protest.

"Because I asked the whitecoats to stop my pain. I didn't want you to worry, I love you." And then he kissed her.

When they parted, there was only one type of eyes looking at her. His real eyes, his red fly eyes, the once that creeped her out when they first met. He mouthed something that seemed like "I'm sorry." Before flying into the middle of the arena. The gate was open, _that idiot wanted to die! _He distracted her with that warm passionate…

_STOP IT 7!_

She spread her wings, but the narrow hallway wouldn't let her fly. She called for him, running into the arena after him. He turned and smiled at her, he was too far away from her.

The Erasers charged in. She saw his body parts flying in so many directions, and his eye collided with her face. She peeled it off and looked at it, she couldn't hold back the bile. She clutched it to her heart while X-8 ran in. He yelled something incoherent at her, but she didn't hear it. Blood was splattered all over her body, so much blood. She finally realized she wasn't holding his eye, but she held his heart. She had his mental heart, and now his real one.

She ripped off a piece of her shirt and wrapped it around his heart. She then put it in her pocket; rage filled her own heart. She began massacring the Erasers, but X-8 couldn't. His body parts were being launched at her, but she felt numb. No pain was felt any more.

She didn't hear the whistle screaming at her, telling her that she had killed them all. She looked around the arena and saw a hole in the fence. She had an escape, she took it. She flew up, clutching 9's still heart to her own. She flew as hard and as fast as she could, scratching both wings on the fence's small hole's opening . She tumbled down the dome of steel chain-links and ran. _Here I am running. Oh, how I hate running…_

* * *

__**Okay, so I finally managed to put that flashback in. I had been saving that for a while, I was waiting until the end of the story to release it, but I should tell you know how she got here, and what she's not telling everyone. I make depressing stories, I know.**

**Anyways, I'm getting really desperate for rates and reviews, how am I doing? I mean, it seems like I'm doing a terrible job and you're not telling. Could you please rate and review? Thanks!**


	5. Chapter 5

Circus Acts

Chapter 5

* * *

I woke up wrapped in something warm. I smiled, _this is a good day..._

_So far._ I sighed and opened my eyes, _oh, yeah, Iggy._ I smiled and carefully got up, hoping not to wake him.

"Xera, can we talk?" Angel walked up to me, tapping my arm gently. I almost said I wasn't in the mood, but her eyes were bloodshot. She hadn't slept.

"You saw the flashback?" I gently held her. She nodded, tearfully. I sighed and she led me out of ears reach of the others.

"I was up all night. You have strong thoughts, they kept me up! I can't choose whose thoughts I read, they just come to me! I hate it! I fell asleep a little bit after that, but woke up from nightmares!" she was flailing her arms around, crying.

I grabbed a blood-soaked cloth out of my pocket and held it out to her. She gasped and vomitted.

"It was real, and I lived through it." I put the cloth away. It stopped beating a long time ago.

"Angel! Baby! What's wrong!" Max came running up to us where currently, Angel was wiping puke off her mouth.

"A conversation about her thoughts." she managed to cough out, "I just got very disgusted." I almost laughed at that.

_Not just very, _thoroughly.

_Shut up. _

_Well, welcome back Angel._

_Yeah, you better be nice to me for the sleep you deprived me of, or I'll tell Max to hang you upside-down by your tail!  
_

_...you do that...  
_

"AHH! GOD... SAVE... ME... POISON... HELP..." Iggy was feigning death in the background, Gazzy was laughing his head off. _Oh, so that's why they call him the Gasman.__  
_

I fell over laughing at them, I felt like a kid again. Cracking jokes and having everyone laugh with you, not at you. It felt good. Angel was giggling now, nothing of her recently-puking self showed. Fang was nowhere to be seen, but Nudge was smacking Gazzy in the back of the head.

"Gazzy! Seriously, break out the perfume, Angel!" Nudge covered her mouth and nose. Gazzy crossed his arms and pouted. Max coughed and pulled a bottle of flowery water out of her bag and handed it to Angel, who was coughing and giggling.

I, on the other hand, sat by the water's edge and thought back on my flashback. How I held Iggy, how warm he felt, how toned his muscles-

_Bad 7! Iggy is not a mate for you, he's out of your league._

I looked down by the water's end- where the world would supposedly drop off a large cliff- the sun had made its way to the middle of the sky. I laid back and watched it, mesmerized by its beauty.

"Hey." Iggy calmly walked over to me, sitting beside me. I smiled at him, watching the sun. I didn't care about the world right now, I laid back and enjoyed his company.

"Hi." I smiled nervously. I watched as a cloud turned from a chicken to an egg to a tree.

"So, what's it look like." Iggy gently grabbed my hand.

I blushed, "It's a bunch of white poofs, sort of like cotton candy, in a blue sky. There's the sun peeking out from behind one of them, it's just this huge yellow ball of light, and its rays are hitting a cloud that looks like, uh, maybe a dragon? Yeah." I smiled and watched the clouds move past us.

I could hear Nudge going on and on about how much she wanted to go back to Disney World. I chuckled as I heard Gazzy yell 'I hate mice!'. Max then calmly shut them up by splashing them with water.

Fang came back, holding some food. I could smell it from where I was, chicken and something spicy. I looked over, chicken kabobs with some chili peppers and jalapeños.

Iggy stood up, then he held his hand out to help me up. I grabbed it, then walked with him back to the camp.

"Hi Xera! Hi Iggy! We were waiting for you to vote where we go after this! I suggested going back to Disney World! I loved Disney World! There were so many fun things to do, like shopping and a bunch of rides!" Nudge was practically jumping up and down. I chuckled.

"Iggy." Fang spoke. _OMG, so much words._

"I'll cook." Iggy sighed and walked to the fire. I sat down next to him, watching the chicken become a delicious-looking golden-brown. The pepper smelled so much spicier now. He smiled at me and gave me one of the kabobs, "How is it?" he asked.

I chewed it, savoring every bite. The chicken was so moist, the peppers gave it the most unbelievable spice, and overall, it was "Amazing."

"Thanks, you can keep that. I still don't know how I can cook better than the rest of the Flock, though. I mean, I'm blind." he chuckled and took a bite of another one, obviously trying to find any flaws in this work of angels.

"Diths thtuff iths suh guud!" I still had chicken in my mouth. _Oops._ I swallowed it down and smiled sheepishly, "This stuff is so good!"

He chuckled, "You should try my spaghetti. I was always better at our kitchen in the E house than on a fire."

"What's 'the E house'?" I asked, taking another bite of that heavenly goodness.

"When we escaped The School, the whitecoat that helped us took us to a house that looked like a slanted E. We called it the E house." he smiled, taking the chicken off the fire, "FOOD'S READY!"

"YAY!" I could hear Angel, Gazzy, and Nudge scream as they stampeded towards the fire. Fang and Max were racing each other, Max punched Fang when he got to us first.

I had already finished my first kabob when Angel stuffed 2 in her mouth at once, yanking the meat and peppers off her stick. I quickly did the same, eating 5 that whole night, that's how Iggy rationed it. Only 5 for everyone. I wanted more.

In a few hours, the younger Flockees were asleep, Max and Fang were off doing who-knows-what somewhere, leaving Iggy and I alone to guard the little ones.

"So... this is your everyday routine?" I asked him, sitting by the glowing fire.

"Pretty much, except for those days when we're running away from Erasers. We usually don't have food then." he 'watched' the fire glowing there, I had actually expected him to have burned his hand, him being blind.

"Yeah, true, I kinda expected that. Anyways, remember how Nudge was talking about where to go after this? What did she mean?" I looked at Nudge, she was sleeping comfortably cuddled up between Angel and Gazzy.

"We can't stay here forever, so we're thinking of leaving for a while then coming back. I wish we could stay here, though..." he sighed.

"Well, where do you want to go?" I sat next to him, resting my head on his shoulder.

"Uh, I never really thought of that. Probably, huh, an optometrist." he chuckled.

"An optometrist? Wha-oh, yeah. Forgot, you're blind..." I smiled sheepishly. He chuckled again.

"And where would you go?" he asked, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

I blushed, "Anywhere with you is fine."

"Aww, isn't that sweet." a new voice chimed in. My blood froze in my veins. I looked in the direction of where the voice came, "Hello, X-7."

_Erasers, shit! How did they find me!_

"What do you want, dog-breath." I snapped, standing up in a defensive pose.

"To terminate you."


	6. Chapter 6

Circus Acts

Chapter 6

* * *

_"We can't stay here forever, so we're thinking of leaving for a while then coming back. I wish we could stay here, though..." Iggy sighed._

_"Well, where do you want to go?" I sat next to him, resting my head on his shoulder._

_"Uh, I never really thought of that. Probably, huh, an optometrist." he chuckled._

_"An optometrist? Wha-oh, yeah. Forgot, you're blind..." I smiled sheepishly. He chuckled again._

_"And where would you go?" he asked, wrapping his arm around my shoulder._

_I blushed, "Anywhere with you is fine."_

_"Aww, isn't that sweet." a new voice chimed in. My blood froze in my veins. I looked in the direction of where the voice came, "Hello, X-7."_

Erasers, shit! How did they find me!

_"What do you want, dog-breath." I snapped, standing up in a defensive pose._

_"To terminate you."_

* * *

I looked over at the Flockees again, they were undisturbed in their slumber. Iggy stood up angrily and tried to punch the Eraser. I held him back.

"Well, how are you, 7? I haven't seen you since the arena. I see you've met some of the normal mutants. The group was one of Jeb's favorites." the eraser smiled evilly.

"I was fine until you showed up. Oh, and it is a nice group, maybe that's why Jeb liked them the most." I snarled. I saw Nudge stir in her sleep. _Oh, God, no. Time for the Nudge Channel to turn on._

"Good morning everyone! I slept really really REALLY good last night! I dreamt I was a unicorn and everyone else were pegasi and I was awesome and their overlord and they were all like 'Give Overlord Nudge shoes' and 'Give Overlord Nudge gift cards' and- OH MY GOD!" Nudge opened her eyes and looked at the Eraser.

"Nudge I presume?" the Eraser walked towards her.

"NUDGE!" I yelled and charged at the Eraser. I smacked my head into where the-sun-don't-shine and he doubled over. Iggy doubled over, too, but laughing, not in pain.

"You'll pay for that..." the Eraser croaked before standing up and throwing a punch at me.

I grabbed his leg with my tail and flipped him over, the punch landed on my arm instead. A satisfying-for-him _crunch_ was heard. I stumbled back, but Iggy was there to catch me. I kicked him while he was down then lifted him with my tail. I punched him on both sides of his head right above his ears and he blacked out.

_That was easy. _I chuckled to myself.

Nudge ran over to me, clinging to my good arm, "Where are Max and Fang? Are they making out in the woods or something like that? They make a really cute couple, but we really need them now because Erasers are after us and I miss them and I'm really scared!" she started sobbing.

I wrapped my arms around her and held her close, "It's okay, Nudge. No one is going to hurt you. Now, go wake up Angel and Gazzy and tell them we have to go, okay sweetie?" She nodded and got them.

In the meantime, Iggy was feeling my arm to see how seriously it was damaged. I blushed and let him.

"Okay, it's broken here, possibly a torn ligament, bruising and swelling will be evident soon, soft skin..." he didn't let his hand leave my arm. I thought it was cute, Nudge gave us a weird look.

Angel walked over to me, placing her hand firmly in mine as we flew away, leaving the Eraser on the beach.

"Max! Fang! Where are you!" I yelled, looking for any sign of them. Angel held my hand the entire flight. We kept calling for Fang and Max and looking for them, but to no avail. Thhose teo disappeared off the face of the Earth together.

A few large birds approached us. They were clumsy and kept looking at each other. They were all deformed-

_Wait a second, those aren't birds! They're-_

"Flying Erasers!" Angel screamed, gripping my hand tighter.

"IGGY! GAZZY! FLANK THE SIDES OF ANGEL AND NUDGE! NUDGE! ABOVE ANGEL! EVERYONE BEHIND ME! FIND A PARTNER AND STICK TO 'EM!" I screamed, getting into position.

I pulled X-9's heart out of my pocket and clutched it to my heart, careful not to drop it. I put it away as soon as an Eraser approached me.

I quickly punched him in the nose and kicked his wing, watching his wing droop and his whole body fall.

"HELP!" I turned my head and watched an Eraser grab Angel and slap her.

"Oh, you didn't just do that, you BASTARD!" I screamed, flying over and punching him in the face. He groaned and let go of Angel. I punched him again and he fell to the ground.

"XERA! BEHIND YOU!" I heard Nudge yell.

I turned around to be met with a fist to the face. I groaned, being pushed backwards. Another Eraser took this chance of my weakness and twisted my not-fully-healed wings. I let out a cry and fell to the ground, I smacked into the dirt with a loud _crack! _and my whole world was black.

* * *

**Oooh, cliffhanger!**_  
_


	7. Chapter 7

Circus Acts

Chapter Seven

* * *

_"XERA! BEHIND YOU!" I heard Nudge yell._

_I turned around to be met with a fist to the face. I groaned, being pushed backwards. Another Eraser took this chance of my weakness and twisted my not-fully-healed wings. I let out a cry and fell to the ground, I smacked into the dirt with a loud _crack! _and my whole world was black._

* * *

Beep_  
_

_What the fuck..._

Beep

_Shut up you piece of shit..._

Beep

_SHUT UP OR I WILL MAKE YOU FUCKING SHUT YOUR WHORE MOUTH!_

Beep

_OKAY, VIOLENT 7'S TURN TO COME OUT!_

Beep

I snapped open my eyes but quickly shut them, the soft beams of light were too much for my eyes to handle. I threw my arm out, getting a loud _pop _from my forearm. I screamed as loud as I could, which was only a high-pitched moan, and cradled it with my other arm.

Beep

_SHUT UP!_

Beep

_Ugh, onto the list of things that hate me, heart-rate machines._

6.) Heart rate mach-_  
_

_Wait, how did I get strapped up to a heart-rate machine?_

Beep

I opened my eyes and looked around my room. I couldn't help but squint for the first minute, then I fully opened them. The room was fully white with hints of green on the walls, and the floor was a white and green tile.

Beep

There was a little boy in the bed next to mine, we were separated by a curtain, but I could still see his face. It was very pale and he had dark brown hair. I heard his machine beeping, it was slower than my devil's servant of a machine. His eyes were almost glued shut, and I could see bones pushing out of his wrists. His hands were on top of the blankets, he obviously hadn't moved since he was put there. He was in a coma. I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer for him, comas are never good.

Beep

The door suddenly opened, revealing a tall man in a white coat. It wasn't a whitecoat, but he had a white coat. I held my breath, hoping that I was right.

I let out my breath as soon as I saw someone I recognized sorrowfully following him. Both of our faces lit up as we acknowledged each other, he didn't really see me, but he felt my movements, he was obviously blind. He ran up to the side of my bed, crashing into the curtain on the way.

Beep

The doctor said something to the boy that neither of us caught before he walked away.

"I was so worried I thought you died and I was going to be faced with having someone leave me and-"_ Where do I know him from?_

Beep

It all finally clicked. At least, I thought so.

* * *

X-7 walked in to the group training room after lunch. This was her first day with her new group, she was so excited. She looked past the guards and the extra whitecoats measuring the strengths and weaknesses of the trainees and made her way to her designated training area.

She was quickly met by a fly/dog X... in the face.

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?" he helped her up. She nodded and took a good look at him.

He had strawberry blonde hair that grew down to his chin and he had one fly eye and one blue human eye. He flicked his hair out of his face and looked at me, too.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there! I'm X-9." he smiled and stuck out his hand. He quickly wiped it on his torn, sweaty T-Shirt before sticking it out again. 7 shook it before he quickly jammed his hand into the pocket of his dark ripped jeans.

"X-7. I guess I'll be seeing a lot more of you." she smiled and followed a whitecoat to training.

* * *

"Nine... X-9? You lived...?" I was shocked. I thought he had died at the arena!

"Who's that?" the boy was nervous and his eyes wouldn't focus on anything. He was blind.

He also wasn't X-9.

Beep

"O-oh! Iggy! Uh... No one..." I coughed nervously and shifted uncomfortably.

"Xera..." he looked straight at me, giving me Bambi eyes.

I couldn't help it.

I told him almost everything.

Beep

Every flashback, every illusion, every day.

Except for certain things I wanted to keep to myself for a little longer, memories that only I wanted to know.

I was sobbing even before I finished.

And he kissed me long before that.

_Shouldn't I be used to it when he kisses me?_

_Ha, ha. Nope._

Beep

Shivers raced down my spine only to be replaced with a comforting warmth.

I could hear the door opening but quickly being closed.

_Angel..._

Beep beep beep beep be-

I smacked that God damn piece of shit and heard it shatter. I was truly happy, but Iggy looked at me like I was crazy.

_Well, we are crazy mutants that belong in a circus act._

* * *

**Okay, I can't update tomorrow so I'm updating twice today! Thanks for all your reviews!**_  
_


	8. Chapter 8

Circus Acts

Chapter Eight

* * *

I looked past the curtain at the little boy, now semi-awake. He comes out of his coma off and on. My heart breaks every time I look at him.

He's a mutant,

Just like us.

Beep

He has whiskers and wings, which were casually overlooked by his nurse to keep his mutanity under lock-and key.

And he was only five.

I saw him stir in his bed, his eyes fluttered open briefly, then he quickly shut them.

"Still dizzy, Arty?" I said as motherly as I could. He had been in that coma for so long, opening his eyes makes him dizzy.

"Y-Yeah..." he smiled, even with his eyes closed he was so beautiful, so perfect, for a five year old, even with all the scars.

Beep

One scar scraped past his eye, another on his wrist, and many more around his back. It was too much to recall; it broke my heart every time.

"Mommy?" he opened his eyes again, trying to keep them open. He's been practicing. Oh, and he calls me mommy, I was the first one to talk to him when he woke up, and I am the only one who speaks to him as I do. He never met his parents, and I hope to God he doesn't want to.

I would slap that bitch right across her face.

Beep

She gave away her son.

Her perfect

Little

Baby.

Beep

Every time he fluttered open his eyes then shut them, God, I wanted to find that sweet bitch and strangle her, put HER in a coma. It was the least I could do for little Arty.

"Mommy!" he called out again, a little louder.

Beep

"Oh! Yeah?" I had forgotten he called for me.

Beep

_I still hate you. _

The hospital didn't replace my heart rate monitor, but little Arty didn't break his.

"When'm I getting outta here?" his eyes were still open.

"I'm not sure, Art, why?" I gave him my best smile.

Beep

"Because I wanna run and play, fly, laugh, I wanna have fun! I miss the outside, Mommy, I miss it!" he was crying now. I was almost crying too as I made my way over to his bed, wrapping my arms around him. I was still hooked up to a bunch of machines to keep me alive, but I didn't care, nothing was stopping me from going to Arty.

"I miss it too, Arty, but we'll be out of here soon." I smiled warmly at him, his perfect features were contorted by scars and bruises. I wanted to cry again.

"Mommy, I'm not getting outta here! I'm leaving soon." he looked up at the ceiling. His eyes were distant, he was almost reliving a dream.

Beep

"How do you know, sweetie?" I turned his head to face me. His face seemed so clear of scars at this moment.

"An angel told me, Mommy." he shut his eyes again.

Beep

He didn't open them.

I sighed, he must've fallen back into his coma. I made my way back to my bed, resting my head on the pillow.

_An angel told him..._

Beep_  
_

I grabbed the pillow and put it over my head, letting my eyes run out of tears. I couldn't help it, the boy was going to die, as the angel said.

He was leaving me, that was his train of thought.

He thought he was leaving this earth as a lonely little boy;

Beep

When he does have everyone here.

...and the whitecoats. I guess I know now why he wants to go.

Beep

The door opened, in came two doctors and Iggy. One doctor walked to the boy, the other checked my monitors- not including the heart rate monitor- and walked out.

I smiled as bright as I could, but Iggy wasn't buying it.

"What's got you wound up?" he wrapped his arm around me. I was shivering, greeeeat.

"...the little boy there-"

Beep

"The one that calls you 'Mommy'?" his face was unreadable, I guess that's the practice you get when you're blind.

"Y-Yeah... he told me today that... an angel told him that he was 'leaving soon'." I was shaking harder now.

I sat up, despite his protest, and wrapped my arms around him. I couldn't help it, Iggy was my only escape from the pains of this world.

Beep

_My only escape..._

_My only escape..._

Beep

_LIGHT BULB._

"Iggy... we have to get out of here..." my voice was shaking too, I couldn't help it.

The doctor walked out of the room, giving us a weird look.

"Where would we go? You never really told me." great, unreadable Iggy. _So help me God if you don't give me something to go by I'll slap you until you_ smile...

Beep

"Just get me out of here. Let me take the boy with us, let him out in the open, the fresh air, let him live a little. He hates it here, we could go to Disney World-"

"Disney World? Sweetie, he would be in a coma the whole time." I didn't let my heart fail me now, I was going to fight this out, even if when he said Sweetie it made my heart flutter- _CONTROL 7! CONTROL!_

"It doesn't matter, let's get out of here! Please, Iggy, do this for me!" I would've given him Bambi eyes if he wasn't blind.

Beep

"Okay, we'll take him to a nice clearing somewhere, we can fly around, and I can feel your cinnamon hair whipping my face... O-Oh, yeah... planning where to take him, now..." Iggy blushed.

"Okay, err... wait, how do you know the color of my hair?" looks at him in mock accusal.

"...it's my special power, like Angel can read minds and Max can fly much much faster than the rest of us, I can feel colors. It's strange, being that I used to be able to see colors, and now I can only, uh, feel them." he sighed.

"Well, okay. Now, how do we get him out of here?"


	9. Chapter 9

Circus Acts

Chapter 9

* * *

Iggy walked over to the little boy and watched him, deep in thought. He couldn't unhook him from the machines just yet, but he couldn't get Arty out of here with them.

He finally came to a solution and quietly unplugged a few machines, picking up Arty and hoisting him over his back.

The sun was gone, now, and the moon was only a sliver.

Iggy came quietly over to me and unhooked me from multiple machines.

I smiled and held Arty, cradling him as if he were my own. His brown hair that fell down to his shoulders was now falling gracefully towards the ground, sparkling in the moonlight. His face was covered in scars and bruises, it made me sick. I pushed his hair out of his face and smiled warmly at him.

"Let's go." Iggy smiled at me, hopping out the window and spreading his wings; flying out into the night.

I quickly followed suit and we were flying lazily at the same pace; laughing about things that weren't funny. My mind was preoccupied on little Arty, how long his freedom would last.

"There." I pointed, seeing a nice clearing. We quickly dove down, taking a good look around.

The trees bent gracefully in an arch over the clearing about a foot in, and the rest was clear and beautiful. The sky was clear, not a single cloud in the sky. I wanted to stay here forever.

I tapped Iggy's hand, handing Arty to him. I sat down underneath a willow with him, Arty's head resting on my lap, his body in Iggy's.

"Maybe we could do this, me and you, we could start a family, we could settle down, we wont have to run from Erasers, we could be ourselves, just you, me, and our child, or children. It would be great." Iggy said, smiling at me.

I glared accusingly at him, "What happened to my fun-loving, not-serious-at-all-when-it-comes-to-relationships Iggy?"

"He found you." he said, smiling.

He put down Arty in the soft moss and wrapped his arm around me, I could feel his warm breath on my neck. I rested my head on his shoulder and looked up at the sky.

He tilted my head towards him and kissed me, soft and tenderly. I angled my head just a bit to do that one romantic thing from TV, it's more romantic than you think. I could feel his tongue pressing onto mine, and I let it in. I could feel it pressed against the walls of my mouth, he tasted so... Err... Delicious, for a guy. I've never tasted an avian human before, okay?

I don't know how long we stayed there before I heard Arty stir in his makeshift bed. I parted from Iggy and silently crawled over to him, wrapping my arms around him.

"Mommy?" Arty stared at me with bewildered eyes.

"Yes, Arty, it's me." I kissed him on the forehead.

"The angel said I don't have much time." he stood up, spreading his little brown wings, and flew up a bit. I flew up after him, followed by Iggy.

"Mommy! Look! A birdy!" he flew after a duck who was squawking angrily at him. I quickly held Arty before a bird war broke out.

"Xera, what's the sky look like?" Iggy tapped my hand. I smiled, holding it.

"I think it looks pretty, Daddy. It's kinda a reeeally dark blue with a bunch of little white dots, and this reaaaaally big white circle shining like a flashlight at us! I like this! Thank you, Mommy and Daddy!" Arty enveloped us both in a hug.

_He called Iggy his daddy, awww..._

I held Arty close, watching the moon for a little bit.

Arty then flew a bit, doing some amateur tricks.

I chuckled as Iggy flew up, doing a 360 then a backflip, and nose diving. Quickly before hitting the ground he soared up, flashing his wings. Arty was clapping while Iggy flew back over.

"That was great, Daddy!" Arty enveloped Iggy in another hug. Iggy blushed and patted him on the head.

"Thanks, squirt. I could show you how if you want me to." he smiled and held Arty.

"Thank you, but I don't have much more time." Arty hugged him again, a little tighter, and flew over to me.

"Arty, what do you mean, you 'don't have much more time'?" I wrapped my arms around him.

"I love you, Mommy. I love you, Daddy. Thank you for tonight." he hugged me, Iggy flew over and hugged us both.

Arty suddenly stopped.

His wings stopped flapping. His heart stopped beating. His mind stopped working.

My baby died before me.

Iggy held Arty's still figure and hoisted him over his shoulder. We lighted down to the ground, I was wiping tears fron my eyes. We quickly dug a little hole and gently put him in.

Or, moreover, Iggy dug a little hole and gently put him in. I was crying.

Iggy pulled one of my baby's feathers off and stuck it in my hand. I started crying, I had even gotten myself under control for about 5 seconds!

Iggy covered the hole up, his face was unreadable yet again. He wrapped his arm around me. I knelt down and wrote in the dirt:

Here lies the filler to one of the many holes in my heart.

My little baby, the mutant who I loved and cared for.

My little Arthur lies buried here, my sweet little Arty.

Iggy walked over to me with a bunch of flowers in his hands. I stuck them around the grave.

Iggy wrapped his arms around me and held me close, I wept into his chest. He stroke my hair and told me everything would be okay.

I knew it wouldn't.

This was only the beginning.

We spread our wings and flew away, the flowers on the grave blew on the wind, a dark figure loomed over it, writing in his neatest handwriting:

This one was only a message.

* * *

**Arty was not based on a real character, fortunately. I'm sorry for anyone who started cryig at this part *sniffle* because Arty didn't deserve any of this, he was just an innocent little boy! Why, Arty, why?**

**Review review review! We got 5! 5 reviews! 5 reviews so farrrr! (Subway)**

**I'm posting it now because I cant post tomorrow, school. I probably wont post anything for Tuesday, sorry, school again. **

**I'll try to post, but I'm not sure if I can. Sorry for all you who love my story, you wont get another chapter for a while. :/**

**Oh, and cliffhanger!**


	10. Chapter 10

Circus Acts

Chapter 10

* * *

_This was only the beginning._

_We spread our wings and flew away, the flowers on the grave blew on the wind, a dark figure loomed over it, writing in his neatest handwriting:_

_This one was only a message._

* * *

I flew in silence with Iggy, my wings making barely a sound.

I had run out of tears to cry, I was tired.

My wings were pumping smoothly behind me, the wind beneath my wings made a big difference in my spirits, but not enough to make me happy. I would just collapse in a fit of tears if I had liquid tears left within me. Woohoo.

If I wasn't holding Iggy's hand, he would've thought me as dead, I was so quiet.

"Xera... What direction are we going..." Iggy stopped even trying to get me to smile about 30 minutes ago. The Flock had apparently left the beach to look for us. Yeah.

"Southwest." I sighed, longing to feel his arms around me, for him to tell me everything was okay, I would probably dream of Iggy if I fell asleep.

We had been flying for 5 hours so far. I could've gone a little farther if I ate, but I couldn't fly any longer. Iggy couldn't, either, so we found a cave in a mountain and crashed down there.

"Iggy?"

"Xera?"

"Thank you, for being there for me, for everything." I kissed him before curling up on his chest.

"...it was my pleasure." he kissed my forehead before wrapping his arms around me.

* * *

A dark figure lurked in the shadows, holding up his binocularshigh enough to see a cave in a mountain where subjects three and seven had flown in. He pulled his coat closer around himself and watched as she kissed him and curled up into him, how he kissed her on the forehead and wrapped his arms around her, it was so sweet he could barf.

Not that his robotic parts ate real food and could have the response to a stimuli to regurgitation, but no big deal.

He prepared himself for what was going to happen, he pulled his tool set out of his bag and got a sharp needle filled with a clear fluid.

_Death is only the messenger._

* * *

**Okay, so I haven't written in a while, I'm not sure if I can keep to my promise od one chapter a day, this story is losing my fire. I'll keep writing, but there is no specific date when new chapters come up. Sorry!**

**Is there anything you want to learn about Xera? Any flashbacks you think I should make? Post your ideas as reviews!**

**Creative criticism is gladly accepted! :D**


	11. Chapter 11

Circus Acts

Chapter 11

* * *

I creaked my eye open, looking up at the world.

Which was currently Iggy's chest.

I sat up, hoping now to disturb him, and stretched.

I never thought of myself as very pretty. My wings were about 12 feet, and I smacked the cave wall with then. They were white with black tips, somewhat like my hair. My hair was a cinnamon brown with black tips, just like my wings. I wore a grey T-Shirt, which was about two sizes too big for me, and I had it tied in the back to size it right. Now I never need bigger clothes again! I wore short jean shorts, they were down to the middle of my palm if I tried to find fingertip length, and they were dark and faded.

Iggy stirred in his sleep and I looked over, seeing him flick his hair out of his face wth a quick shake of his head.

"Good morning..." I sighed.

"M'rning." he groaned, rubbing his sightless eyes and _fwoomp_ing his wings out, hitting me on the leg. I fell over, laughing.

"FAIL." I laughed. I hadn't laughed like this since three days ago when Iggy had done a dive and smacked into the side of a cliff, yet he was perfectly unharmed.

"Thanks." he groaned, folding in his wings and sitting up next to me. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and held me close, I rested my head on his shoulder.

_I think I finally got the hang of dealing with death._

_Wait, scratch that, I just felt something roll down my cheek._

_Oh, wait, that was just blood._

_Wait, blood?_

I shot my eyes open and looked at my cheek. Sure enough, a drop of crimson red dangled on my temple, waiting to drop. I looked up and saw it, a bird.

Yes, it was a pretty bird, but one thing I noticed was that it was white and its wings had black tips.

...and it was headless.

I quickly got up, grabbing Iggy by the arm and hopping out of the cave.

"What happened?" Iggy held my arm tightly, confused beyond belief.

"You didn't feel anyone move last night?" I looked him straight in the eyes, not that he would see me.

"No, nothing." I sighed at that. I looked down at my pocket, something was soaking through my jeans. I thought it was just that old... souvenir thinking that rain water is blood that it has to pump. I pulled it out and screamed at what I saw.

I didn't just see my souvenir...

I saw the head of the bird, on top of the head was securely glued a lock of cinnamon brown hair with black tips. My cinnamon brown hair with black tips.

"What? What? Xera, what is that?" Iggy flew in front of me, strangely exactly right in front of my face, he's blind, he couldn't have done that on purpose...

"...the head of a bird. A bird that gave me avian DNA." I pushed him aside and kept flying, holding his hand behind me, dragging him along as I flew as fast as I could. _Oh, how I wish Max was here so she could fly us away faster._

"Xera, I love you and I will always be here for you, you just have to trust me." my heart skipped a beat. I knew he loved me, but it just seemed so... new.

"Iggy, your cuteness is an ass." I groaned, turning to face him and locking my lips with his.

"Your kisses are my drug, so I have to use my cuteness to pay for 'em." he shrugged as I dragged him along again, hoping for the madness of our journey to end. Every day, living was an adventure. I was tired of it, but no one would care.

"XERA? IGGY? ARE YOU HERE?" a familiar voice called. I looked over my shoulder to see a little African American girl flying towards us, yes, I said flying.

"Hey, Nudge." I managed to smile, I knew Iggy wouldn't buy it, but Nudge probably would.

"XERA! WHERE WERE YOU? OH, MY GOSH! WE THOUGHT YOU TWO HAD DIED! XERA! WHAT DID YOU TWO DO FOR FOUR DAYS?" Nudge quickly appeared next to me, grabbing me in a tight hug. I blushed furiously, trying to smile normally.

_Well, Nudge, we got in a few near-death accidents for the past four days. Oh, yeah, we made out and we almost adopted a son, who just died. How's that sound for chaos?_

"Nothing much, just the usual." I smiled again, Iggy squeezing my hand tighter, our universal sign for 'he/she can help you.'_ Wonderful, I bet Nudge is onto my unhappiness. Oh, well._

"Okay, well, the whole flock has been on high alert to look for you guys, we should head back to our new camp. Some weirdos had found us, there was a dead bird on the fire, and the fire was out. It was reaaaaally really creepy, Xer." Nudge grimaced.

"What type of bird?" I asked, nervous. If the same guy was planting these birds then it would probably be a-

"Fang said it was an albatross, why?" Nudge cocked her head slightly.

"Sh-oot." I remembered Nudge was there, noting to myself to be careful with what I say, "Iggy has albatross wings."

"Oh. I guess that means something bad because Iggy's bird was charred really bad."


	12. Chapter 12

Circus Acts

Chapter 12

* * *

"Yeah, Nudge, really bad. Were there any more of these bir-" I started.

"AaaaAAAAHHHH!" another bird, I bet. I facepalmed.

"Angel? Angel! Angel, wait!" Nudge screamed, flying after the little rocket of energy.

"Two bucks I bet it was a cockatiel." Iggy elbowed me. I sighed, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

"Five it's a dove." I shrugged, handing him five dollars.

"Deal." he grinned, taking it.

"THREE IT'S A PARAKEET!" I heard a child's voice.

"GAZZY!" Iggy laughed, hugging his partner in crime.

"Oh, brother..." I sighed. I looked over, Fang was flying over towards us. _Finally, someone who is not mentally retarded-_

"It was a dove." he held up his hand to hi-five me. I snarled and did so, collecting my bet money. _For the love of God, are all the boys retarded here?_

"Wonderful." I sighed, putting the money in my pocket. I flew off to go find Angel.

* * *

"Iggy, so... are you going to do something special for her?" Fang landed in a tree. Usually he was quiet, but today he probably took a Nudge pill.

"Uh... what day is it?" Iggy landed beside him after hearing the ruffling in his tree.

"Christmas is in three days!" Gazzy cheered, flying up into the air and giving a fist-pump.

"WHAT?" Iggy immediately flew out of the tree, then crashed into another branch.

"Easy, Iggy, we can take you." Fang held Iggy by his shoulders and helped him sit down.

"Okay, maybe today would be a nice day to take me to get a Christmas gift for Xera, I mean, it's only three days until Christmas." Iggy facepalmed. Everyone still wondered how he could manage to facepalm his actual face when he was blind...

"Okay! I need more materials for making C4!" Gazzy cheered, hugging Iggy.

"No C4, Gazzy." Fang sighed, looking in a wallet that he "borrowed" for money. Iggy did the same, feeling where the colors changed to find how much it was worth. Gazzy just sighed, twiddling his fingers.

"Twenty-seven dollars." Fang put the money back and put "his" wallet away.

"...thirty-nine...forty-four...forty-nine!" Iggy laughed, putting "his" money away, too.

"How come I don't have any money!" Gazzy crossed his arms.

"Because you haven't been able to casually 'borrow' from anyone." Iggy laughed, handing Gazzy a five dollar bill.

"Thanks, Iggs!" Gazzy laughed, putting his money in his pocket.

"You're welcome, Gassers." Iggy chuckled.

"Okay, children, let's go find some store and find some nice presents." Fang sighed, spreading his wings again.

"OKAY!" Gazzy and Iggy cheered at once, spreading their wings. They all took off, heading towards some store with people that would hopefully not recognize them.

* * *

"Angel? Angel! Come on, Angel!" Xera flew above the forest, looking for any sign of life of Angel.

"Angeeeeey! Angeeeeeey! Where are you?" Nudge flew right beside me, her mocha skin glistening in the morning sun. _I feel like a poet._

"Nudge? Xera? I'm here! I'm here!" I could hear a voice about 30 feet north from our position. _And a navigator person._

"Angel! We're coming!" Nudge and I swooped down almost as one, landing at the entrance to a cave. I looked inside and saw Angel huddled up with-

"Total!" Nudge ran up to the dog. _Greaaaat._ _Did I ever mention my extreme HATE for dogs?_

"You hate dogs?" Angel looked at me with a level of disgust.

"Uh, hello, cat ears and tail." I sighed, flicking my tail out. Total looked at the tail with envy. _Great, now the stupid dog is going to eat me._

"He's not stupid!" Angel hugged that abomination tighter.

"Ange... can't... breathe!" the dog ye-wait a second.

"THE DOG CAN TALK?" I was on edge, the hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up.

"For the record, my name is Total. And, yes. I can talk." he sighed. _DEAR SWEET MOTHER OF GOD, WHAT MADNESS HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO?_

"...okay. Errgh... what?" I backed up slowly, hoping for no chase scenes.

"I had run away from all the madness when Angel here found that bird, and now, we're here together." he bared his teeth and stalked closer to me.

"O-okay... uh... I'll just be going- OWW!" I started to run away when that idiotic excuse for a dog bit my tail. I spread my wings and flew away, the dog hanging helplessly by my tail.

_Well, not helplessly, he has wings. _REALLY, ANGEL? YOU TELL ME THAT NOW?

And now, the idiot started flying up. I quickly stopped flying and folded my wings in. We both quickly fell to earth. At the last second, I unfolded my wings and shot up as high and as fast as I could.

That stupid dog couldn't hold on, he let go. I stopped mid-air and waited a few seconds. I then dropped as fast as I could, catching him and shooting back up. I flew down to the cave, handing him to Angel, who squealed in delight, then scolded him for biting me.

"Xera, your tail! Ohmygosh we reaaaally have to clean that up! I mean, look at it! It's so... yucky!" Nudge held my tail in her hand. I cringed as she touched a sensitive spot, chunks of fur hung loosely by flaps of skin where that mutt bit it, and little waterfalls of crimson flowed down to the tip of my tail then smacked into the ground with enough force to kill an ant.

"Yeah, we should get that looked at-" I cringed again, Nudge dropped my tail and it smacked into my leg, which was covered in mud and more blood.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

* * *

**Okay, now, the next chapter is about Fang, Iggy, and Gazzy shopping for Christmas gifts. There's going to be another bird, they're all going to get gifts for everyone, as in they're pooling their money to get a gift for all the girls, and Xera is getting her tail looked at by Dr. Martinez.**

**I just need help, A.) What is the bird going to be and how does it die, B.) What are they getting for the girls, and C.) How do they get Xera to Dr. Martinez's house without raising suspicion?**

**Oh, and D.) Why isn't yous all reviewing?**


	13. Chapter 13

Circus Acts

Chapter 13

* * *

Do you know how much it hurts when your tail is bloody and flaps of skin and fur are hanging off it and you can see the bones and it smacks into your bloody, mud-covered leg? A lot.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" I screamed, clutching it tightly.

"Xera!" Nudge ran over, checking me over.

"...Nudge...?" I whimpered, crumpled on the floor.

"Y-yes...?" she put her hand on my shoulder.

"GET ME TO A FRICKEN' HOSPITAL NOW!" I screamed as a wave of pain rushed over.

* * *

"Okay, we're at Walmart. This'll be tomorrow's headline on the Times." Fang sighed.

"Yeah! 'Three of The Birdkids Make a Last-Minute Shopping Trip' would be so interesting." Iggy rolled his unseeing eyes.

"Sweet! C'mon! I need to get a gift for my Nudge-I MEAN, THE REST OF THE FLOCK!" Gazzy finished abnormally loud.

"..."

"..."

* * *

A dark shadow swiftly went to work, pulling a little hawk out of a cage. He held it firmly in both hands as his assistant followed wordlessly behind him.

"Is the tank filled to the brim for our mission?" he glanced quickly at his victim in his hand.

"The acid is all there." the assistant didn't so much as flinch at the evil, icy words that he spoke.

"Good. Your time has come, Mini Maximum Ride." the dark figure flashed a large, white smile at the hawk before disappearing into a dark room. A few loud screeches from the bird were heard before a pleasant, eerie silence.

* * *

We girls flew in silence, except for my sudden gasps of pain.

"Xera, we're going to my mom's house, you think you can survive until then?" Max gently held Xera's shoulder.

"I think so..." I smiled weakly. Max nodded and the silence came upon us again.

"AKWARD SILENCE!" Nudge squealed, Max facepalmed.

"Nudge, shh, we're flying over an Air Force base, try to keep quiet." Angel sighed.

"Air Force? Déja vu." Nudge suppressed a giggle.

We flew silently over the base, managing to not get shot at as we crossed into Dr. Martinez country (a.k.a. Her house). Nudge had probably taken an antidote for her Nudge pills today, either that or she didn't take them, becausr she was completely silent the whole way there.

...and my tail was still bleeding through the cloth. Woopdie-freaking-doo.

"There's the newest safe house." Max half cheered. She wasn't the cheering kind of person, y'know?

"Okay." I gasped in pain as another wave of pain washed through my body in pain. Painful. "I wonder what the boys are doing."

* * *

"CAN I? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEEEEASE, FANG? IGGY SAID I COULD!" Gazzy stood, eyes pleading, to Fang, of all people.

"No." Fang firmly stated.

"BUT I'VE NEVER HAD ONE BEFORE!" Gazzy thrust the item at Fang.

"And you wont have one until you are well in your thirties." Fang groaned, putting it away.

"BUT FAAAANG! I REAAAAALLY WANNA RIFLE!" Gazzy stomped his foot.

"Gaz, what would Max say if you got yourself a rifle?" Fang sighed.

"...nevermind." Gazzy put the rifle back.

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Nudge groaned.

"Nudge, the answered hasn't changed, we're still going to get there when we get there." Max groaned.

"Oh my God look at the sky! Oooh! The clouds are so pretty!" Angel giggled, tapping a cloud with her wing. I smiled and flew up, too.

_Bad idea..._

My wing tapped the cloud, and so did my mangled tail.

"DEAR SWEET GOD WHY DO YOU HATE ME SO!" I screamed, my wings locking in place by my sides as I dropped.

And I kept falling.

* * *

"Iggs, this is on my wishlist!" Gazzy pushed a video game at Iggy, hoping their 'Sight Sessions' would let Iggy read it.

"Boom Monkey Boom?" Iggy raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah! It's a game about monkeys who know how to handle explosions, and, sometimes, not..." Gazzy still held the game up.

"I'll think about it..." Iggy smirked.

"AWW YEAH!" Gazzy fist-pumped.

* * *

"Thanks, Max." I laughed, rubbing my cramping wing.

"Sure, whatever, just don't do it again." Max groaned, rubbing her own wing. I guess dropping 300 feet at 170 mph and snapping your wings out while holding me really takes a toll on your wings. Huh, who'da thunk.

"Max, that was so cool! You dropped like _whoosh _and then you came up all like awesome and epic! Could you show me how to do that?" If anyone could jump while squealing and flying, Nudge was.

"Nudge, I'm not teaching you until you are my age and even more experienced than I am." Max sighed.

"Aww... Fine..." Nudge pouted, flapping her wings in sync with the others.

I elbowed Nudge, "Maybe I can teach you." I chuckled, Nudge then beamed.

"Uh, guys? We're still here!" Angel whined, Total groaned in response.

_Oh, great, she brought the dog._

"Max?" Nudge broke the silence.

"Yeah?" Max looked back at Nudge over her shoulder.

"Are we there yet?"

* * *

"Wait, guys." Iggy raised his hand, Gazzy stopped describing things to him.

"That, you want to get her _that?" _Gazzy gaped at the item of choice.

"Yeah, it sounded nice when you described it. Maybe she'll like something like that." Iggy grinned something goofy.

"...whatever." Gazzy laughed, taking the item off the shelf and handing it to Iggy.

"Perfect." Iggy rubbed his hands together in a maniacle way.

* * *

**REVIEW PLEASE I NEED TO KNOW WHAT IGGY IS GETTING XERA AND HOW XERA IS GETTING TO DR. MARTINEZ'S HOUSE. SERIOUSLY. PLEASE.**

**Oh, did I mention how Xera hates Total? Yeah. Like, extreme and severe hate for that dog.**

**Oh, and I finished the rest of the Maximum Ride series this past week. I'm just gonna say that those Erasers were the last ones left, like in the scene where a few Erasers attacked the Flock in _Fang._ I am just going to make the new villains robots, as I made the weird dark figure part cyborg. Sooo... Yeah. Err, this set of author's notes is reeeeally long, so...**

**APPLESAUCE.**


	14. Chapter 14

Circus Acts

Chapter 14

* * *

"Okay, we made it, thank God!" Total practically flew out of Angel's arms as soon as they hit the ground.

"Now, my tail?" I managed to float in through the door without maiming my tail any more than it already was.

"Max! How are you? Oh, it's been forever since I've seen you!" a woman came down the stairs, hugging Max. I stifled back a laugh, Max doesn't like hugs.

"Mom, this is Xera. Total met her tail." Max practically shoved me towards the woman. I pushed my tail towards her, the woman practically jumped backwards.

"Oh, oh! Well, uh, does that hurt?" she tentatively reached out to touch the wound, as if it would disappear any second.

The best I could do was hold back a shriek of pain.

"O-oh, sorry! Uh, Max, bring me the first aid kit!" she quickly helped me up onto a table as Max brought in a large bag of medical supplies.

"Okay, this might hurt just a bit..." she dabbed something on my tail, which absolutely made me scream my lungs out.

* * *

"Okay, Iggy got his perfect gift for his girlfriend, but what about us?" Gazzy sighed, Fang and him couldn't find anything to give. Gazzy and Fang had both paid together for one of those phones where you could only call home or the emergency number for Angel. But Nudge and Max?

They were clueless dopes.

* * *

"Xera, I think you broke my eardrums!" Nudge groaned, pulling ear plugs out of her ears.

"Sorry. Where's Max?" I wrapped my newly-wrapped tail around my waist, like a belt.

"Christmas shopping." Angel walked in, Total at her side.

"Uh, what's 'Christmas'?" I smiled sheepishly.

Nudge gasped, "YOU HAVE NEVER HEARD OF CHRISTMAS?"

"N-no... What is it?" I backed up, Nudge was very scary for a twelve-year-old.

"It's the most awesomest holiday ever! Everybody eats dinner together and then we all get presents!" Nudge was practically jumping for joy.

"Err, okay. When is Christmas, anyway." I slipped into the kitchen, smelling a heavenly odor, and laid my eyes on it.

"In three days. The boys get gifts for the girls and vice-versa!" I didn't really care. I saw every cat's treasure:

Catnip.

* * *

"Look, Fang! Should I get this for her?" Gazzy held up a hair styling bag, complete with shampoo, conditioner, mousse, hair spray, a flat iron, and a hair brush.

Fang shrugged.

"YES!" Gazzy fist-pumped again.

* * *

"...and one year, I got this really pretty dress-up kit, I was 7, and it was full of awesome dresses! Xera, are you even listening?" Nudge walked into the chaos of the kitchen.

"MEOW!" I pawed at the catnip.

"Xera...? Ange! What's wrong with Xera!" Nudge quickly ran out and dragged Angel in.

"Nudge, what plant is that?" Angel raised an eyebrow.

"Le'mme go check." Nudge carefully walked over to the plant.

"NUH!" I scratched her.

"Ow! What was that for?" Nudge rubbed her arm?

"My precious... My precious..." I picked up the plant with my tail, opened a window, and jumped out into the fenced-in backyard.

"Catnip." Angel and Nudge sighed at the same time.

* * *

"Okay, so we got gifts for everyone except..." Gazzy started.

"Max." they all said at once.

* * *

"...I'm as free as any daughter! Uh, somethiiing, and living in the sunlight! Loving in the moonlight! Having a wonderful time!" I sang, dancing in circles around the catnip.

"I'm back! I got a gift for Fang, you guys can go now if you want-" Max walked in the door and was immediately assaulted with questions.

"What is wrong with Xera? She found catnip and is acting all weird but weirder than real cats and-" Nudge was cut off with answers.

"Catnip? She has cat ears and a cat tail, where is she?" Dr. Martinez strolled in.

"In the backyard." Angel and Nudge said at the same time.

* * *

"Okay. We have a few plans of action, soldiers! We have plan A," Gazzy held up a cool watch thing.

"Plan B," Iggy chimed in, holding up a journal.

"You guys owe me, and plan C." Fang groaned, holding up a necklace. It was a charm necklace, and hanging on one loop was a small locket, inside that were a picture of the Flock and a picture of Fang and Max together.

"Plan C." Iggy and his partner-in-crime took the velvet box from Fang and made their way to the checkout with all the stuff.

* * *

"I like to eat, eat, eat, apples and bananas!" I stood on my hands, laughing like a madwoman.

"We just need to take the catnip away from her." Dr. Martinez sighed.

"She scratched me when I was trying to see what plant it was!" Nudge whined.

"I'll get it." Max casually walked into the backyard, grabbed the plant, and gave it to Dr. Martinez, without a scratch.

"How did you...?" Nudge shook her head in disbelief.

"She just fell asleep." Max shrugged.

* * *

"Okay, it's a partly-dissolved hawk. Probably acid." Fang sighed, packing up their things.

"Maybe they went to Max's mom's house!" Gazzy jumped up excitedly, he missed those cookies.

"We can see." Fang sighed.

"No, I can't." Iggy half groaned half chuckled.

"...right. Let's just sleep here one more night." Fang laid down on the cave floor, looking up at the sky.

"ONE MORE NIGHT! GIMME JUST ONE MORE NIGHT!" Iggy burst out in song.

"OH GOD NO!" Gazzy covered his ears dramatically. Fang groaned and covered his ears.

* * *

"Okay, let's just wait for the boys here." Max suggested, going up the stairs. Angel and Nudge followed suit. Ella had already been asleep.

"I'll be there in a minute." Dr. Martinez sighed, checking my tail one more time. She then carried me to the couch and laid me down, putting a blanket over me and a pillow under my head.

"Goodnight." she walked away.

* * *

A boy flew in the night, he had made it out of the arena, barely, and was now following a lead to where one of his good friends were. He missed her so much, she was practically his sister. He looked back at his wings, they were a vampire bat's, and he flew in silence. He knew partly where he was going,

The other half of his direction was where his heart was taking him.

* * *

**Ok, thank you b1a3z3 for your OC, Reaper, now I has to put him in!**

**Prepare for OCs who are practically siblings!**

**And thank you B1 for your gift from Iggy to Xera idea. I am probably going to use that unless I see someone else who makes a good idea. :D thanks people for all your reviews!**

**Oh, and can anyone make a cover for my story? I've been wanting one, whoever makes the best cover will win the little contest, and I'll figure out a prize later. One thing is your picture becomes the permanent picture for my story.**

**Xera has cinnamon brown hair with a ponytail. Her bangs are parted to the side, they're long. She has black tips on both sides of her bangs and on her ponytail. She has white wings with black tips. She also has white ears and a white tail. She wears loose shirts that she ties in the back and shorts that go halfway down her thighs, and a pair of black converse up to her ankles. She has fair skin, not as pale as Iggy but not as tan as Ella.**

**Oh, and APPLESAUCE.**


	15. Chapter 15

Circus Acts

Chapter 15

* * *

_A boy flew in the night, he had made it out of the arena, barely, and was now following a lead to where one of his good friends were. He missed her so much, she was practically his sister. He looked back at his wings, they were a vampire bat's, and he flew in silence. He knew partly where he was going,_

_The other half of his direction was where his heart was taking him._

* * *

"Ella! Give me back my shoes!" I yelled, chasing after her. Her black hair shimmered under the morning light.

"Nevar! I summon the magical powers of the...

CATNIP!" she held up a plant. I immediately sat down at her feet and stared at it, unmovingly.

"Ella! You know better than to give her catnip!" Dr. Martinez took the plant and put it back into its box, where there was already catnip.

"Relax, mom, it was only basil." Ella giggled, taking back the plant for their game.

"Basil... Basil..." I chanted, rocking my head side-to-side.

"Ooooh, behold the mighty power of the basil..." Nudge sat beside me, staring intently at it.

"Ugh... If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Basil... Basil..." Max sighed, rocking side to side. Dr. Martinez walked in holding a camera. Max groaned as she took a picture of all of us, wait for it,

Worshipping basil.

* * *

"Faaang! How long until we get theere!" Gazzy whined.

"Later." Fang groaned.

"Fang? Do you know where we're going?" Iggy tapped his hand.

"...uh... No."

* * *

"I'm never doing that again..." Total stepped out of the kitchen, covered in basil.

"Hey, we all did it!" I groaned in defense. I picked a few stray leaves out of my wings before shaking them off.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just remind me not to do it again." Total shook his stupid black wings off.

"Don't do it again." I laughed, plopping down onto the couch to watch TV.

"Okay, thanks, Xera." Total sighed.

I heard a knock on the door, then I heard Dr. Martinez answering it. The voice talking to her struck a memory, somebody that I used to know...

I quickly composed myself and looked at the door. I instantly felt my jaw hitting the floor, theoretically, of course.

He walked over to me, "Sev? You're really alive?"

I stood up in front of him, no one had noticed how I clenched my fist.

But everyone noticed when I slapped him.

* * *

"An hour, Gazzy. One hour." Fang sighed.

"Okay! Let's sing until then, come on, Iggy!" Gazzy pulled an iPod out of seemingly nowhere and whispered the song to Iggy.

"AND I SET FIRE TO THE RAIN!" they sang in unison, well, more like screeched.

Fang proceeded to wish he were dead.

* * *

"Ow! What was that for?" the boy rubbed his red cheek.

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!" I screamed, clutching my fists behind my back, it became increasingly harder to keep from punching him square in the nose.

"Well, I'm sorry I'm not dead." he rolled his eyes.

"You could've told me something! I thought those Erasers ripped you to shreds! Eighty-o, you are like a BROTHER to me. I thought I had lost my brother there!" I yelled.

"I thought I had lost my SISTER there, my little sister!" we were both screaming now.

"Well, I see you are both alive, I'm Dr. Martinez, Max's mom. What's your name?" Dr. Martinez fortunately broke the tension.

"Reaper." he had no emotion on his face.

"Okay, Reaper, This is the Flock. This is..." Dr. Martinez kept talking while I walked outside and flew away, away from everything.

I couldn't take it any more.

* * *

"What other songs can we sing... Uh..." Gazzy looked back at his iPod, trying to find a song.

"None." Fang hissed.

"Why not?" Gazzy pouted.

"Because my eardrums have officially exploded." Iggy and Fang hissed together.

* * *

A dark figure walked past rows of cages. He looked at all the creatures and smiled at one, an owl.

"Your message has been received, sir." his assistant walked carefully behind him.

"Good. Now for the next one. The Gasman, I believe?" he pulled the owl out and held it firmly, not wanting it to get away.

"Yes, sir." his assistant stepped away, preparing for the horrible screeches of a dying bird.

* * *

"Okay, Fang, I think I see it!" Gazzy cheered.

"I can't." Iggy groaned. He ran his fingers through his strawberry-blonde hair, pushing it out of his face.

"Well, good for you. I see it, too. Iggy, 30 feet down and 5 feet forward, then just stop." Fang began the landing procedure.

"'kay." Iggy followed suit, followed by Gazzy, his small brown wings pumping behind him.

"...my little sister!" they heard yelling from the living room. Fang quickly stepped inside as soon as Xera flew out the back door.

"Xer? Wait!" Iggy heard her wings flapping and followed her.

"Ig!" Gazzy called to him, but Iggy didn't listen. Xera was hurting, and she needed her Iggy.

* * *

"Xera! Xera, slow down! I just want to talk to you!" I pricked my ears at that voice. I turned to see Iggy flying right towards me. I started flying towards him, too.

"Iggy!" I tackled him mid-air in a hug.

"Xera, what's wrong?" he held me tight.

"Iggy, my friend visited-"

"That's great, but why did you leave?"

"Iggy, I thought that for the past few weeks he was dead! I thought they killed him! He was like a brother to me!" I held him tighter.

"Xera, it's okay, I think he's alive if he came here, don't you?" he started rubbing my back. I looked up at him and I smiled.

"God, I missed you, Iggy." I leaned in to kiss him, I tightened my grip on him as he angled his head back.

"I missed you, too. Worst 24 hours of my life. What interesting stuff happened to you?" he laughed.

"Uh, I'll tell you later. It was a bunch of crap." I chuckled, hoping Dr. Martinez wouldn't show him the picture.

"I'LL KILL YOU, GAZZY!" I heard Nudge yell. I turned to see Gazzy holding a picture as he flew away from a really pissed off Nudge.

"IGGY! LOOK AT THIS!" Gazzy almost plowed right into us.

"I can't." Iggy rolled his eyes.

"Oh, yeah, but guess what they're doing!" Gazzy thrusted the picture in his face.

_There go my chances of a normal secret. Oh, well..._

_There's nothing normal about me._

* * *

**Okey-dokey, B1, I finally put Reaper in the story. I'll be using him much more in future chapters!**_  
_

**APPLESAUCE**


	16. Chapter 16

Circus Acts

Chapter 16

* * *

"TOMORROW?" I jumped off the couch, Christmas was tomorrow already?

"Oh my gosh! I haven't gotten anything yet for Gazzy!" Nudge ran over to me.

"Me neither! Wait up!" Angel joined our little shopping group. We all ran out the front door.

"Wait! Let's drive!" Dr. Martinez came out jingling her car keys.

"Okay, thanks, Dr. Martinez!" the three of us chanted, stepping into her van.

"Where to?" why did she ask...

"Walart!"

"The mall!"

"Toys R Us!"

* * *

"Sir, i-is it... Dead?" a dark figure turned to see his assistant clinging to a door frame.

"Yes, Aliana, it's dead." the dark figure put the owl in the box, or, moreover, what was left of the bird. His assistant, Aliana, stepped into the room and picked up the pieces of shrapnel and bird remains and threw them in the garbage.

"N-Now, for the message, sir?" Aliana ran her fingers through her dirty blonde hair, her icy blue eyes shone through the darkness of the room.

"Yes." the dark figure almost smiled at Aliana's naïveté. She was just hired after the old assistant was fired for giving the messages in the wrong order, after all.

"J-Just the Gasman's?" she took the box from him.

"Yes, just the owl." the dark figure turned on his robotic heel and walked away.

"I'm sorry, little owl..." Aliana tenderly patted the box then walked outside, feling the calming breeze flow through her hair.

_And I'm sorry, Seven's friend..._

* * *

"Are we there yet? I'm hungry!" Nudge whined, crossing her arms over her stomach.

"No, Nudge, we are almost there." Dr. Martinez sighed.

"But-"

"STUHFOO NUDGE!" I yelled, my eyes full of fire. The rest of the drive was silent, finally.

* * *

"Iggy, where's your girlfriend?" Gazzy stepped into the living room holding four bowls of popcorn. He gave two to Iggy and kept two for himself.

"I dunno, why don't you ask her?" Iggy stuffed some popcorn in his mouth.

"Uh, because she isn't here." Gazzy threw a piece of popcorn at Iggy. Iggy threw some back, which Gazzy dodged.

But it did hit someone.

"YOU IDIOTS!" Max snarled, pulling a piece of popcorn out of her eye. She stepped into the kitchen and pulled out a wooden spoon and some mashed potatoes, "It is ON."

Gazzy and Iggy somehow managed to exchange a concerned glance then looked at Max (in Iggy's case, her general direction) before the food war began.

* * *

Reaper came back from his mid-morning flight and walked into Dr. Martinez's house. He shook his head at the scene and walked in. A glob of mashed potatoes flung past his face, popcorn nearly hit his arm.

He looked down, mashed potatoes and popcorn. He looked up, mashed potatoes and popcorm. He looked forward, Max, Fang, Iggy, Gazzy.

_This is going to be a long day._

* * *

"Okay, we're in Walmart... and we have no idea what we're doing." I sighed as Dr. Martinez got a cart.

_This is going to be a long day._

"Okay, we need to get gifts for Iggy, Total and Gazzy. Nudge and Xera, you get Gazzy and Iggy. Angel and I will get Total. Meet back here in 15. Good luck." Dr. Martinez marched away with Angel giggling by her side.

"What do you think Iggy and Gazzy would want?" Nudge gleefully looked at all the rows of toys.

"Oh, y'know..." I grinned.

"Explosives."

* * *

"He/She started it!" they all yelled at once. Reaper shook his head.

"I'm going upstairs to read... I'm not cleaning this." he made his way past the food fight and managed to catch a piece of popcorn in his mouth before heading up the stairs and into a random bedroom.

"...So... Who wants to throw the first bit of food at him?" Iggy shrugged.

Everyone raised their hands.

* * *

"Look, Xer! A rifle!" Nudge skipped out of the outdoors aisle carrying a pink rifle.

"You think Gazzy would want a pink rifle? WWMS?" I put it back.

"Whaaat?" Nudge raised an eyebrow.

"What would Max say." I shrugged, leading her back to the toy aisle to find some Barbies to blow up.

"Oooh." Nudge went back to looking at all the rows of stuff.

* * *

"Wrench?" Iggy looked in Gazzy's general direction.

"Check." Gazzy twirled the wrench onhis finger.

"Wires?"

"Check."

"Remote?"

"Check."

"Beef jerky?"

"Err... No..."

"What? I thought I packed beef jerky into the bomb kit-Gazzy, what are you eating?"

"Beef jerky, want some?"

Iggy facepalmed.

* * *

"Xeraaaa!" Nudge whined, holding up a box.

"Nuudge!" I mocked, looking at the box.

"I think it's perfect!" Nudge jumped up and down.

"I think so, too. Now, to find something for Iggy..." I took the box from her and we started walking to the chemicals aisle.

* * *

"Okay, by George, I think we've done it!" Iggy cheered, holding the bomb up victoriously.

"Iggy?" Gazzy took the bomb and set it down gently.

"Yeah?"

"Who's George?"

* * *

"Look, Nudge! 'Bomb Making for Dummies'! They are dummies, shouldn't we get it for Iggy?" I laughed, putting it in the basket.

"Uh, Xera? One problem. Iggy can't read."

* * *

"Okay, just press the DVD button and we'll be all set." Iggy handed the remote to Gazzy.

"Okay. Mashed potatoes and popcorn away!" Gazzy pressed the button. A loud SPLAT was heard before a very pissed off Reaper came out, covered in mashed potatoes and popcorn.

"Run?"

"Run."

* * *

"Doc? Doc! Where'd you go?" I walked around with Nudge.

"Xera! Look at what we got Total!" Angel came running out of the store holding a pink sweater. nudge and I looked at each other before falling on the ground, laughing.

"Okay, okay. Jeez, Dr. Martinez reacted the same way." Angel groaned, stepping into the car. Dr. Martinez, Nudge, and I followed suit.

"Now, back to home sweet home." Dr. Martinez smiled and started driving to the chaos of what she used to call home.

* * *

**Okay! Sorry the chapter was later than usual, I had a bunch of stuff to do today. I quit on my schedule of a chapter a day and just started going by a chapter whenever I got around to it (about every day).**

**And yeah.**

**APPLESAUCE**


End file.
